The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, October 17, 2007 - 9A ARTS IN BRIEF FILM A decent 'Season' for the kids "The Final Season" At Quality 16 and Showcase Yari Film Group Every once in a while a movie comes around that reminds us why we love the great American game of baseball. "The Final Sea- son" isn't quite that movie, but its efforts are commendable. The film begins slowly in the template of a classic sports movie. There's uplifting theme music (prettymuchstolenfrom"D2:The Mighty Ducks") and a montage of small-town America - the plains, cows and, of course, baseball. The 19-time state champion Norway Tigers are joined by new coach Kent Stock (Sean Astin, "Rudy") in tandem with the struggle to keep the school frombeingclosed down because of money. Sure enough, the ruling dictates that the school will close, ushering in the team's "final season." Creative title, I know. The movie isn't original or particularly well made, but that's hardly the point. The film thrives on its sense of community. And it's almost unfair to have Astin headline. Despite the guy's lazy and unconvincing acting, having played Rudy, he's the entertain- ment icon of inspiration. Stereotypical and quaint, "The Final Season" doesn't quite do it like "The Sandlot" or even "Rook- ie of the Year," but its hometown nostalgia and sentimentality make it almost worthwhile. NOAHDEAN STAHL MUSIC 'Whateva' it is, it's simply awful Federation It's Whateva Reprise Federation's It's Whateva is a mess even at first look: The album cover boasts middle-finger wav- ing and a front man with early *NSYNC's Chris Kirkpatrick pineapple hair. The sound var- ies, at times a mixture of death- metal screaming and rap to bad R&B and hip hop. Super-violent, testosterone-heavy lyrics charac- terize the songs. Consider "Break Your Face": "I do drugs and I tear down shows / It's the life of a rap star / I got hos." Similar lyrical profundity can be found in "Col- lege Girl," with the clever pairing of "college" and "knowledge." Hilarious skits could have saved face for Federation but instead yield only audio clips of someone holding in a joint hit and opening a beer can. Federation leaves the machis- mo and drugs in "When I Was Yo Man" to bring up a sensitive sub- ject: the loss of one's ho. Its fail- ure climaxes with the utterance of "Damn, miss dat pussy." KAREN STACEVICH FILM A bouquet of mainstream 'Flowers' Sean Hayes Flowering Spade Ambient Egg For the uninitiated, San Fran- cisco acoustic artist Sean Hayes is best summed up by the unkempt hair ofthe Diag harmonica player with only a fraction of his casual charm. Listening to Hayes's lat- est attempt, Flowering Spade, you might feel transplanted inside a Banana Republic, J. Crew or Starbucks. Hayes's music pur- veys an innocuous consumerist calm without the messy com- plications of profundity. This is best construed through Hayes's voice, itself having a sort of soft amorphous texture, eschewing range for subdued vibrato on "All for Love." While Hayes lets the guitar do most of the talking, the mahogany isn't saying much - simple, repet- itive melodies perfect for sipping iced tea. "Cool Hand" and "Sufi- drop" bring a banjo into the fray, the latter the most challenging of the album for the addition of dou- ble-dubbing and a clap-track. Hayes's occassionally inane lyrics are better left in the back- ground. He unironically pro- claims "he has a flowering spade growing out of his chest full of magic and healing." Study away to the magic-filled Spade, but be wary of its banal wizardry. He comes to The Blind Pig Nov. 1. JERRY GORDINIER DAISIES From page 5A have to use it. Indeed, as an adult, Ned applies his magic touch mostly to withered fruit for his piemaking operation. That is, until detective Emerson Cod (Chi McBride, "Boston Public") discov- ers Ned's ability and realizes his temporary powers of rejuvenation are perfect for resuscitating mur- der victims just long enough to ask them their killer's name. Things get messy, though, when one of Ned's first "subjects" happens to be Charlotte "Chuck" Charles (Anna Friel), with whom Ned shared his first kiss. And since our boy has no apparent penchant for necrophilia, he has no choice but to let his first love live. of course, Chuck can't touch Ned, which should make for an interesting courtship. Elements of bizarre surrealism in "Daisies" shouldn't be surpris- ing - the director of the first epi- sode was Barry Sonnenfeld, and he paints "Daisies" with the same COURTESY OF ABC So. Precious. (And he can bring the dead back to life !) COLODNER From page 5A Since the University does not fund it, UMS needs to be savvy to survive at such a spectacular scale. With economic incentives for students (a low-income, fairly racially diverse crowd) already in place, I wondered if the student attendance UMS had already reached was the de facto limit. Was UMS somehow at capacity? Billmann described the non- economicwaysUMSencourages student attendance - marketing through Facebook and related e-mail groups, for instance. She believes there are more students who might become interested in UMS events, but she isn't sure what button they need pushed. While UMS has hammered out its economic parameters under such constraints as scar- city of time and money and the choice between featuring a household name versus a debut performer, the University's students have not stepped up. Students require a sense of urgency and attentiveness to the unequaled opportunities here. Their time in college is scarce, and UMS offers such potent excellence within the constraints of eight months, three venues and one campus, that to attend should be a regu- lar occasion. For all their understanding of supply and demand, of effi- ciency and of how to make the most for your money, Univer- sity students had yet to apply their hard-woneducation to one promising field. A word to the wise: When you can see a performer who spends her time in the pursuit of excellence for a loth the price you could in any other city, in a building constructed on the ide- als for which a public university stands, that seat is your home- work. - E-mail Colodner at abigabor@umich.edu. dreamlike Burton-esque quali- ties as his movies "Men in Black" and "The Addams Family." From exuberant waitress Olive Snook (Kristin Chenoweth, "RV"), who wears flower-print dresses that match her wallpaper, to Lily (Swoosie Kurtz, "Huff"), Chuck's eye-patched agoraphobic aunt, the characters in "Daisies" don't quite live in the same world we do. Even Chuck - the most relatively normal cast member - seems totally unfazed by the factshe was brought back from the dead by a man she hasn't seen in 20 years. These strange characters, combined with witty deadpan by McBride and enough murder mys- tery to satisfy "CSI" fans, are the reason "Daisies" is ABC's most impressive new offering this fall. By combining the best elements of two genres that usually draw few of the same viewers, the show has created a wholly original synthe- sis that doesn't look or feel like anything else on television. r y "°,; "" . :'' ; . . SKae eie Service provided by AT&TMobility. 02007 AT&T Knowledge Ventures. All rights reserved. AT&T and the AT&T logo are trademarks of AT&T Knowledge Ventures and/or AT&T affiliated companies.